BELLIGERENTS

PORT ADELAIDE
Year to date: WWLWWWWWWWLWLLLWLLWW
Last five at ground: LLLLW
Currently ranked: 5th

FREMANTLE
Year to date: WWLWLLWLWWWWWWWWLWLWW
Last five at ground: WWWWW
Currently ranked: 4th

HEAD TO HEAD
Power 15 v 12 Freo

LAST FIVE
Power 1 v 4 Freo

PLAYBILL

2014 AFL Premiership Season – Round 23
Fremantle v Port Adelaide
Saturday 30 August
First bounce 1:10pm (AWST) / 2:40pm (ACST)
Hashtags: #AFLFreoPower
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YOU’RE INVITED

PRE-GAME EVENT
WA Supporter Group Function
Bayswater Hotel
78-80 Railway Parade, Bayswater, WA
10:00am – 11:30am
All welcome

POST-GAME EVENT
No post-game event this week

TIME MACHINE

Round 8, 2014. Despite losing several tough games against Freo in its previous encounters, Port Adelaide dominated

PORT ADELAIDE     2.4     4.8     8.10     13.16 (94)
FREMANTLE            1.3     6.6     9.9       11.10 (76)
 
portadelaidefc.com.au’s best
Wingard, R. Gray, Wines, Cornes, Ebert, White, Trengove, Carlile

Goals
Wingard 5, White, Mitchell 2, Schulz, Wines, Young, Pittard
at the Adelaide Oval

NUMBER CRUNCH

Points For: Power 99.19 v 91.61 Freo
Points Against: Power 74.90 v 69.48 Freo
Kicks: Power 211.3 v 207.8 Freo
Handballs: Power 165.9 v 158.6 Freo
Disposals: Power 377.2 v 366.4 Freo
Contested percentage: Power 38.09% v 39.32% Freo
Effective disposal: Power 73.1% v 72.6% Freo
Marks: Power 90.6 v 89 Freo
Clearances: Power 40.3 v 39 Freo
Frees: Power 16.5 v 15 Freo
Tackles: Power 70.8 v 65.4 Freo
Rebound 50s: Power 34.3 v 33.6 Freo
Inside-50s: Power 56.6 v 50.7 Freo

*All stats averages per game

FOUR POINTS

In the mix
The Power will again be at full-strength for its Perth odyssey after Justin Westhoff, Jay Schulz and Matt White were all verified as fine following minor injury question marks last Friday night.

Having been cleared for action, they will be crucial cogs in the Power’s machine on Saturday. In contrast, Fremantle will be without the prolific Nat Fyfe (suspended) and potentially Michael Barlow and Matthew Pavlich through injury.

They could be significant outs if not named in Freo’s line-up on Thursday night.

Battle for fourth
If you’re not expecting these two sides to throw everything at Saturday’s game, think again.

With a top four finish on the line for both sides – that mean’s an away trip to (most likely) Sydney and a double chance – there is plenty of incentive to win.

Both Port and Freo enjoyed strong wins last week and across most key stats the two sides are evenly matched, and with the Power much improved on the same period last year, expect to see a much tighter battle at the so-called ‘House of Pain’…

…Or is it?
Many agree a trip to Perth is one of the toughest road trips in football, but is as diabolical for the Power?

The historical ledger at Subiaco is one that favours Port Adelaide, although its recent trips west – at times when both Freo and the Eagles were rising through the ranks in contrast to the Power’s lacklustre 2010-2012 seasons – have been less fruitful.

The early win against the Eagles in Round 5 this year will see the visitors land with plenty of confidence though, particularly after a rollicking 103-point win over the Blues in Round 22.

The Haze and all its usual challenges
Fremantle might miss some big names, but they’ll bring all their usual challenges.

Ross Lyon says his side will ask some “serious” questions of the Power, but fortunately Port Adelaide will run into the game expecting that to be the case.

But some key questions for Saturday’s game that we prepared earlier are:

1. Who will be tagged?
Everyone talks about Ryan Crowley, and yes, there is speculation he might have a different target that his usual job on Travis Boak, but Port Adelaide has plenty of its own shutdown mids to choose from, like Brad Ebert and Kane Cornes, who’ve managed their occasional tagging roles well this season – who they go to with Fyfe and possibly Barlow out, if anyone at all, will be interesting.

2. Who's the best at handling pressure?
Both sides will fancy themselves as better under pressure, and at increasing the heat on their opposition.

Freo wins more contested ball as an overall percentage of its total possessions won, but the Power are superior in the tackling stats.

If both bring their best football from the top shelf, this will be a tough four-quarter game.

3. Will the turnaround between games impact the game?
Port Adelaide played Friday night and stayed home to begin preparations for this game, but will take the long flight west on Friday, Fremantle flew back from Brisbane for a six-day break but will have ample time to prepare in its home territory.

Much can be made of the break between games in this tight, elite industry, but in a game with everything on the line, the mentality and dedication of each line-up will play a bigger role in deciding the game, as you would expect when each team has everything to play for.

Ken Hinkley knows the Dockers will come out firing.